CEBU CITY- Cellular phone signals will not be disrupted during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) finance and defense ministerial meetings in Cebu, which started on Monday, an official said.

Chief Supt. Noli TaliAo, Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 director, said overall security will be tight during the ministerial meetings from Monday to Friday with the deployment of some 5,400 personnel from the police, the military and force multipliers.

The finance and defense leaders' meeting will be held in Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City and Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City from April 3 to 7.

Talino said there is no need for the temporary shutdown of cell sites of telecommunications companies, as there are no active threats to the ASEAN Summit ministerial meetings in Cebu.

But he said that "selective signal jamming will be conducted whenever there is a direct threat to the meetings."

The cell sites were shut down during the Sinulog Grand Parade in Cebu City on Jan. 14 and 15 and during the Miss Universe 2017 swimwear competition in Lapu-Lapu City two weeks later.

These activities were held after the bombing of a night market in Davao City.

Some 250 delegates from the 10 ASEAN member-countries are in Cebu for the ministerial meetings.

Security personnel are deployed in the venue of the ministerial meetings and in the hotels where the delegates are staying and the route from the airport to their hotels.

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